Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Facing the older cubs charging at him all fierce and aggressive, Mei Mei showed no fear at all. He puffed out his chest, propped his chubby paws on his hips, and declared loudly, "No! You big, bad bullies! Picking on little cubs like that!"

Mei Mei's defiance immediately stirred up discontent among the older cubs. The leader, the biggest and sturdiest of them, grew furious. He charged forward, raising his fist to strike Mei Mei. "You little fatty! You won't do it the easy way, so we'll do it the hard way!"

Luckily, Mei Mei was chubby but quick, and he dodged the older cub's punch. He let out a big yell and shot himself like a little cannonball right into the older cub.

With a heavy 'thud', the two of them—one big, one small—went tumbling onto the air cushion, bouncing and rolling around a few times.

Even though he was a whole size smaller, Little Mei Mei sat right on top of the older cub, holding his own without any problem.

Seeing how fierce this little cub was, not just the older cub on the ground but all the other big cubs who'd been blocking the way and demanding snacks were totally stunned.

Because of the age rules at the floating castle, they'd use their bigger size to push around the younger cubs.

The cubs standing next to Mei Mei with red-rimmed eyes had definitely had their snacks stolen before.

This was the first time they'd ever run into trouble like this.

Pretty soon, the older cubs who'd been watching snapped out of it and jumped into the fight.

It was obvious Mei Mei was immediately outmatched.

The younger cubs who'd been scared before saw this, and even though they were terrified, they clenched their little fists and charged in, scratching and clawing at the older cubs to help Mei Mei fight back.

The ruckus was way too loud—even in a far-off corner of the floating castle—and it didn't take long for the caregiver bugs nearby to notice.

"Oh my god, cubs, stop! Stop right now! Cut it out!"

When the two caregiver bugs saw the cubs brawling, their faces went pale. They rushed over, pulling the cubs apart one by one, desperately trying to get things under control.

The leader of the older cubs had a bunch of bruises on his face and looked a total mess—nothing like the cocky little punk he'd been earlier.

Feeling the sting all over his face and body, the older cub finally cracked. His mouth flew open, and with a loud 'waaah,' he burst into tears right then and there.

"Wahhh! How dare you hit me! I want my dam to teach you a lesson! Wahhh..."

The shrill crying of a little cub was especially grating.

The moment the two caregiver bugs recognized the older cub, their hearts sank. They knew trouble was coming.

The mall had a ton of employee perks, including free access to the entertainment areas for employees' kids. So a lot of employees with cubs felt safe leaving their little ones in places like the floating castle, where dedicated bugs watched over them.

The older cub who was crying right now was one of those kids. His dam, Oren, was a low-level supervisor at the mall—but he hadn't earned that position through actual skill. Relying on his connections with a high-ranking executive at the mall, Oren was typically arrogant, condescending, and difficult to deal with.

Thanks to his doting and spoiling, his cub had turned into a spoiled, tyrannical little brat. A lot of caregiver bugs had noticed for a long time that this older cub led gangs to bully others, but their gentle scolding never stopped him. Instead, they'd end up getting pranked and messed with themselves, which left them miserable and bitter. But because of Oren's connections, all they could do was put up with it.

They'd done their best to keep an eye on that rowdy bunch, but with so many cubs, they couldn't be everywhere at once. Who would've thought one moment of not paying attention would cause such a huge mess?

Oren was the type to hold a grudge over the tiniest thing. This was really bad.

*

The cubs were all led out to the open area outside the floating castle.

The caregiver bugs gently asked the cubs for their guardians' contact numbers.

The older cubs rattled off their guardians' numbers right away, and within a few minutes, several gentle-looking female bugs came running over, looking worried.

The cubs who saw their guardians immediately latched onto them, whimpering with teary eyes.

The open area quickly filled with the sound of little cubs crying, which tugged at everyone's heartstrings.

Mei Mei, who was too young and too forgetful to remember his sire's number, watched the other cubs getting hugged and comforted by their guardians. He twisted his chubby paws together, looked down, and his face fell a little.

Even though he was brave little hero Mei Mei, right now he missed his sire and his dam.

The young caregiver bug noticed how Mei Mei was feeling and quickly said some gentle, comforting words. Perking back up, Mei Mei looked eagerly into the distance, hoping to see his tall dam show up.

But before Kaisisen showed up, a shrill voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Oh my god, baby! My baby!"

A female bug who looked a lot like the older cub—pretty, but with sharp, upturned eyes that made her look kind of mean—came rushing in, looking totally panicked.

She basically lunged at the older cub, crouched down, and hugged him tight, frantically checking him over like a nervous wreck.

The older cub was the only kid she'd had after nearly twenty years of marriage with her mate, and she treasured him like a precious gem.

It was no exaggeration to say that the older cub was her lifeline, her whole heart.

When he saw his dam show up, the older cub's face was all red from crying, but he still managed to tattle loudly, "Wahhh, dam, they hit me! Make them go away! Wahhh, I hate them!"

The caregiver bug next to him quickly tried to explain, "Supervisor Oren, here's what happened. Your cub was leading..."

But before the caregiver bug could finish, Oren cut him off coldly.

Even though he had confirmed his cub was unharmed, seeing the bruises on his face made Oren's heart ache. He abruptly stood up, and a surge of fury boiled inside him, nearly driving him to lose all reason.

Ignoring the caregiver bug beside him, he wrapped one arm around the older cub and swept his gaze—venomous and sinister—over the cubs and their guardians. He roared furiously, "Which ones! Which ones bullied my cub? Step forward right now! Look at what you've done to my baby's face! How do you raise your children? So young and already so vicious!"

Oren's blanket attack instantly scared the cubs half to death, and the faces of the caregiver bugs and guardians turned grim.

One guardian couldn't hold it in anymore and snapped, "How dare you talk like that! These are just little kids—watch your mouth! And do you even know what started this? It was your kid leading a bunch of older cubs to bully the little ones and steal their snacks. You should be the one disciplining your own kid!"

Oren didn't react at all, but a few of the guardians there looked embarrassed. Their cubs were exactly the ones in Oren's kid's little crew. They weren't mall employees—just regular visitors whose kids loved playing here. They'd seen Oren's kid around and knew their own kids liked playing with him, but they never imagined their little ones were spending all day following that older cub around to bully other kids.

They weren't unreasonable adults. Swallowing their anger, they pushed their crying cubs' heads down and sincerely apologized to the younger cubs.

You could see the younger cubs' guardians' expressions soften quite a bit.

Seeing that, the caregiver bug quickly added, "Stealing and picking on the weak is wrong, you know. You're all good cubs—owning up to your mistakes and fixing them is what makes you good..."

But just as the caregiver bug was in the middle of talking, a sneer full of contempt froze the air.

The caregiver bug who'd been talking immediately went stiff.

Even working bugs had their pride. Oren's constant needling had finally pushed the caregiver bug over the edge.

The caregiver bug who'd spoken glared at the smug Oren and demanded, "Oren, what exactly is your problem?"

Another caregiver bug, who'd also dealt with Oren's crap before, jumped in angrily, "Oren, you've got the nerve to laugh? You're the one who should be apologizing the most! Your kid leads the others in bullying, stealing snacks, and messing with the caregiver bugs every single day. I'm done with it!"

At that, the guardians of the younger cubs all shot Oren dirty looks and started murmuring among themselves.

The proud Oren couldn't take it anymore. Like a bug whose tail had been stepped on, he flew into a rage, "If you've had enough, then get out! You don't need to come in tomorrow! Apologize for what? My precious baby didn't do anything wrong! Isn't it your kids' fault for not sharing a few lousy snacks? Getting bullied? Ha, then they should look in the mirror! With so many cubs around, why is it only yours that get picked on?"

Oren's messed-up logic was absolutely insane. Everyone there was completely stunned.

"You're crazy! You... you're completely out of your mind!" The caregiver bug who'd spoken was shaking with rage, barely able to get the words out.

Feeling emboldened by his dad's support, the older cub's arrogance flared up again. He shot a hateful glare at the chubby cub not far away, pointing at him and shouting loudly to his dad, "Dad! He's the one who led the others to hit me and wouldn't give me snacks! I want cake! I want to eat his!"

Hearing his son's complaint, Oren's eyes turned cold and hostile. He looked at the plump cub standing alone before him. Even though the cub appeared adorable with a delicate, doll-like beauty, his bias made him feel no fondness for this 'bully' of his precious one. He looked down at the cub, his tone fierce and cold, "Where's your family? Where did you come from, you stray brat? Are you the one who bullied my precious? You wicked cub, you'd better hand over your snacks if you know what's good for you!"

The towering figure and gruff voice terrified little Meimei.

Feeling the malice and hostility from the big bad bug before him, tears welled up in the little cub's eyes. But he puffed out his little chest, as if to encourage himself, and retorted loudly, "Mei Mei is not a stray cub! Mei Mei beats up bad cubs, Mei Mei is a Little Hero! You want to take Mei Mei's cake, you're a big meanie! Big meanie, big meanie!"

Mei Mei's voice was crisp and tender, echoing across the clearing.

Even a little cub dared to defy him like this, Oren immediately lost it. Blind with rage, he directly reached out to grab Mei Mei.

"Damn it! You wicked cub, I'll teach you a lesson for your family!"

Oren's sudden outburst made the nearby caregiver bug's eyes go wide, his face changing drastically.

"Stop!" The caregiver bug nearby shouted while trying to pull Mei Mei away.

But no matter how fast the caregiver bug was, he was still half an arm's length away from Mei Mei due to his delayed reaction.

Just as Oren was about to touch Mei Mei, suddenly, with a sharp pang in his chest, Oren trembled all over and crashed heavily to the ground, brushing past Mei Mei.

Oren's face was filled with fear and flushed red. It seemed as if a mountain were pressing down on him; he struggled with all his might but couldn't move an inch.

Everyone present was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

The caregiver bug was full of doubt and uncertainty.

Did Oren have some rare medical condition?

But their confusion was soon answered.

With a series of hurried footsteps, a cold, emotionless voice suddenly rang out.

"You want to discipline my child?"

"Who do you think you are?"

*

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Author's note: I've revised and edited to post a chapter first! I'll make it longer tomorrow.

Thank you all for your support, I'll keep working hard!